Category Archives: Cantonese

Ah Tuesday. The most underwhelming day of the week. It doesn’t have the anticipation of a Friday or the dread of a Monday or even the satisfaction of getting over the peak of the work week on a Wednesday. Thankfully, I have a wonderful Mastication Monologues post about a restaurant that will have you wishing for the weekend.

Stephanie Izard is one of the highest profile female restaurateurs who has cultivated an enormous following through her various eateries in the West Loop/slowly gentrifying Fulton Market area of Chicago, including the famed Girl and the Goat which I have also written about. Now, she has taken her legend to another level by becoming an Iron Chef as well as opening a Chinese inspired restaurant called Duck Duck Goat, a much better alternative to a goose, I think.

Izard just making noodles (PC: WGN)

It is easy to get to by public transportation or with a car, and when we walked in, it was very busy with the lunch crowd. From the neon lights in the front window to every inch of the interior, Izard has attempted to recreate the kitschy 1950s Chinese restaurants that tried to slap as many random artifacts on the walls and used as many brightly colored wallpapers in each room. Even though it sounds like a madhouse, it was pleasant on the eye in its tacky glory as we took a seat at the center island bar while we waited for our third diner to join us. We decided to try some of their mixed drinks since they looked too good to pass up. I got the Bebop and Woksteady, the bartender appreciated by Ninja Turtle knowledge on that one, and Janice got the Lucky Duck. I won’t go into every single detail of what went into these elaborate drinks, but I greatly enjoyed my cocktail. It was a mix of mezcal, pineapple juice, and orange juice with lime salt coating the rim. If you’ve never had mezcal before, it is an acquired taste. Mezcal comes from the Nahuatl (language of the Aztecs) word “Mexcalli” (Mesh-calee) meaning “over-cooked agave” because it comes from the same agave plant tequila is made from. However, since it is overcooked, it has a strong smoky flavor which I think gives it a more complex flavor than tequila. The Aztecs believed the agave plant was holy and contained the nectar of the gods, and the Bebop and Woksteady was just that. The smokiness of the mezcal was enhanced with the lime salt yet had an understated sweetness that kept it from becoming a poor man’s chelada. Janice’s Lucky Duck was a rum based drink that tasted like a sweet, bubbly lemonade with a low-key bitter undertone. Eventually, Janice’s friend Joe arrived, and we were seated at the table.

Looking over the menu, they even extended the same old-school Chinese vibe to the layout and pictures. Before we got our food, Joe and Janice went on to get the Try Try Again and the Good Health cocktails. We quickly learned that you couldn’t go wrong with their mixed drinks since everything we had was delicious and dangerous since they tasted like candy. However, I went off the beaten path to keep it real with the Chinese menu and got an adult bubble tea. I got the Honey Please which was milk tea infused with honey whiskey. While I am partial to a great bubble tea, especially of the taro variety, I wasn’t too pleased with Duck Duck Goat’s take on this Taiwanese drink mainly because they went too heavy on the whiskey and light on the tea. Once we refilled out cups, we got down to business with the foodstuffs. Overall, the prices were more on the pricier end compared to other dim sum/Chinese restaurants in Chinatown and Chicagoland, but we learned that the price tag was justified. It was interesting because it wasn’t as full on American Chinese as I anticipated yet it was more like an intermediate selection of more Western friendly Chinese traditional dishes with a classic Izard twist. Plus, all menu options were on the small to medium end and meant to be shared with your fellow diners.

Chinese food has been around since the 1800s in the United States due to a high influx of Chinese immigrants to the West coast to build the railroads. Most of the workers came from southern regions of China, especially the town of Taisan (台山市), and brought with them food that had to be either adapted for their American customers or made as close to the real deal for their fellow Chinese immigrants without having all the necessary ingredients. Traditional Cantonese dishes do have some similarities to the modern day orange chickens and chop suey, but most mainland Chinese view American Chinese food as foreign food that their favorite tv characters eat out of white take-out boxes. Instead of heavily-sauced meat dishes, we started with char siu bao or pork buns. We got the baked version (叉燒餐包) which was different from the steamed type often served at many dim sum restaurants in Chinatown. The dough was amazing. Soft and topped with green scallions, but the filling was kind of disappointing. I was expecting the red, sweet minced pork in all previous char siu dishes I’ve tried, but instead it was more like shreddednpork with little seasoning. I would still recommend trying them for the dough alone. Next up, the extremely lightly pan-fried jiaozi ( 鍋貼). The name behind these dumplings come from many sources. Some believe it comes from the Chinese word for “horn” like on a bull, others the early word for “money”, or possibly the word “jiao’er” meaning “tender ears” because an ancient Traditional Chinese medicine practitioner made them for his patients who had frostbitten ears. No matter its origin story, it was a wonderful choice. They were filled with beef short rib and bone marrow whose saltiness was sinfully rich and filling. I highly recommend these dumplings. Then came the chiu chow fun gor which were shrimp dumplings that were showered with modestly sweet peanut-soy sauce and pickled red peppers. They were also more multi-layered in terms of flavor compared to the char siu bao or the next choice in our feast. Following these dumplings, we got, surprise surprise, xiao long bao (小籠包) or soup buns. These unique dumplings were invented in Shanghai but quickly spread throughout China. The ones served at Duck Duck Goat were served in the southern Chinese style with translucent skin and filled with traditional pork, crab, and broth. If you’ve never had the pleasure of getting to know these dumplings, do not pop them in your mouth immediately, or you will be scalded with hot soup on your tongue and elsewhere. They were just as good as the ones I had at Din Tai Fung in Hong Kong! They were complimented very well with a lip-smacking earthy soy sauce on the side. Finally, we ended the dumpling part of our dinner with ham sui gok (咸水饺/咸水角) or glutinous rice goat dumplings. These were new to me, and I typically would avoid rice cake due to my experiences in Korea. However, the crunchy, fried exterior gave way to a chewy interior that was stuffed with seasoned goat. I would preferred it if it was served with a hoisin or spicy sauce to make this dish really pop, but Iron Chef Izard knows what’s best. Transitioning from more tame dumplings, we went full throttle into more traditional Chinese fare that could drive more squeamish diners away: duck hearts. I had previously eaten parts of a duck I never thought I would when hosted by my friend David’s family in Taipei (非常谢谢!), but this is another part that I ended up loving. Izard nailed the dish by roasting them until they had a good char and served them halved on a puddle of mild sesame-horseradish sauce. Given the heart is pure muscle, it almost tasted like cubes of sirloin with a slight kick from the horseradish. Hands down my second if not top dish we had at dinner. As if we couldn’t eat any more, Janice recommended that we should try the slap noodles. The reason why they’re called “slap” is because they are slapped on the kitchen counter to remove any excess flour as they’re stretched to perfection by hand (example here). I personally wasn’t wowed with these thicker, somewhat crispy noodles that were canoodling with shrimp, goat sausage, bean sprouts, and a strange red vegetable we couldn’t identify. My theory was that they were cooked tomatoes. Joe and Janice preferred it more than I did, but I think my preference for thinner or crispier noodles may have clouded my perceptions. Noodle-wise, I was definitely feeling the chilly chili noodles. Perhaps I liked it because it was more Korean in nature because it had the spicy ramen-esque noodles, pickled cucumbers, and was cold like naengmyeon. Surprisingly, we had room for dessert in the form of baonuts (see what they did there?). These deep-fried bao were similar to the char siu bao earlier in our meal, but these were more like warm doughnuts and filled with rich, dark chocolate frosting. They were well-executed as a Chinese version of a Western doughnut, but it was nothing super innovative.

Our experience at Duck Duck Goat was definitely memorable. I would highly recommend a visit if you’re tired of eating the same old Panda Express and want to expand your Chinese food horizons but are not yet ready to go full throttle with some chicken feet or stinky tofu. Just remember to come hungry and be willing to share your food with others, if possible!

Hey everybody, and welcome to another edition of Mastication Monologues! Many great events have been happening as of late including my blog now being featured on the acclaimed food blogging website TheBesty. You can find the article here, and they will be featuring some of my restaurants in a few upcoming YouTube videos. So stay tuned! Self promotion aside, today I’d like to tell you all about Oriental Taste, a simple but yummy eatery located at 106 63rd St, Willowbrook, IL 60527 that has quickly become my family’s go-to Chinese restaurant when we crave some Asian cuisine.

While this place may not be as famous as some of the other Chinese establishments I’ve visited both in the States and abroad in China and Taiwan, it still manages to do serve some quality Cantonese-inspired American Chinese food at a great price. It’s quite simply furnished both inside and outside, but this is a case of not judging a book by its cover as their menu will both intrigue and excite you. They have everything from classic egg rolls and potstickers to many different varieties of fried rice and noodles dishes. If you’re feeling adventurous, they also have Cantonese specialties that are closer to some of the dishes I saw while vacationing in Hong Kong. In all the years my family has been going there, it seems like we’re always the only non-Asian people who actually sit down in the restaurant to eat, but overall, it seems their carry-out business is the real money maker. We’ve never tried their carry-out services, so I can’t offer my own opinion on the overall efficiency of this part of the business. Anyway, for this dinner, I decided to get a plate of bbq pork chow mein, and my mom ordered the ever-popular kung pao chicken. After a good while of looking at the various duck carcasses and pieces of meat in the display case next to the register, our entrees came out with a side of white rice and a full pot of tea. I focused mainly on my wonderfully arranged plate that was overflowing with noodles. I took three forkfuls of the noodle nest along with the morsels nestled in its golden tangles. Each mouthful was a who’s who of textures and flavors as the noodles were prepared in the crispy, Hong Kong style, and the barbecued pork strips were succulent but not greasy, thankfully. I’m also partial to bean sprouts, so this dish was perfect for me. These translucent, crispy tubes were paired perfectly with the crunchy green onions that popped up every so often to pep up the meal. The kung pao chicken was quite scrumptious as the juicy pieces of chicken were pure white meat, and the soy based sauce covering every inch of the plate provided a spicy zing to each mouthful. I liked the peanuts that were added to supply a crunchtacular counterpoint to the chewier chicken and firm onion and pepper elements of the meal.

So if you’re looking for quality American Chinese fare without the bells and whistles of other chains or upscale restaurants, check out Oriental Taste in Willowbrook, IL. It’s a hidden gem that won’t be under wraps for long.

In continuance with my previous post, Hong Kong Part 1, I bring you another installation of Mastication Monologues! This post features some a very odd food along with some just plain tasty Turkish cuisine. However, I’m going to start at the beginning of my day where I started it off right with a proper Hong Kong breakfast.

Now most tourists wouldn’t really know where to go to get breakfast in Hong Kong since it really isn’t a city known for its flapjacks and French toast. This is where I found the glory that is known as 茶餐厅 or a cha chaan teng or literally “tea food hall”. What these cozy little restaurants are known for are their plates that combine both western and eastern staples to create the original Asian fusion scene in Hong Kong. Before World War II, Western foods were considered luxury items, so no one could afford them. However, after WWII, locals wanted to emulate their British rulers by offering cheap versions of Western food for the common people. Thus, the cha chaan teng was born providing the once rare Western food items like cakes and breakfast items to the public along with cheap Cantonese favorites. The cha chaan teng I went to was called Tsui Wah Restaurant, and they are all over Hong Kong. I was quickly seated, and there were no other foreigners in the dining room aside from myself. I knew I came to the right place again. I picked the 31 HK satay beef and ramen noodle breakfast platter. With this eastern entree came a side of scrambled eggs, a western bun with butter, and a cup of “silk stocking” tea or milk tea which is called the former because of its color and smoothness. It consists of black tea and condensed or evaporated milk, and is a key part of any Hong Kong citizen’s daily life which is just another carry over from the British colonial legacy. I was quite happy with the meal overall. The eggs were pretty good although somewhat on the buttery side which was kind of odd, but the roll was slightly warm which became even better with the salty butter. Coming from Korea and their terrible bread that’s filled with sugar, this roll tasted like heaven. As for the beef satay with noodles, it was a hearty and savory meal for the long day ahead of me. I also appreciated that the cha chaan teng provided deep red chili flakes soaked in spicy oil on the side with salt and pepper. I could get used to that very quickly. The beef was tender and slightly seasoned with some cumin while the broth was salty and contained all of the juices from the meat. The noodles were piping hot and al dente which showed that the cooks didn’t just put some boiling water in a cup and hope for the best. As for the silk stocking tea, it was unlike any tea I’ve ever tried. It was silky smooth like the name implies, but with a flavor profile that ranged from earthy to herbal to the more obvious milky notes from the key ingredient aside from the tea. Overall, it was a great deal for a big meal in a real piece of Hong Kong life, but hurry to one because they’re being phased out as new chain restaurants are taking over. For dessert, I chose one of the most bizarre foods on earth: durian.

For those unaware what a durian is, it’s considered the “king of fruits”, and is notorious as a foodstuff that people either love or hate. One of durian’s chief haters is the country of Singapore where it’s illegal to possess one under a fine of 5,000 dollars. Plus, Andrew Zimmern of Bizarre Food’s fame who has eaten everything from anuses and penises could not finish one bite of this fruit. On the other hand, one of my heroes, Anthony Bourdain, loves the fruit. So, I took it upon myself to finally get my hands on this spiky devil fruit. I went to the Sogo department store in Central, and as soon as I walked into the supermarket in the basement, I came face to face with the enigmatic fruit. It cost me about 24 HK for a date with foodie destiny. It was already packed up in plastic, but the cashier insisted on wrapping it again and taped my bag up. Oh boy….while walking I could still smell it through all of those precautions. I decided it would only be fair to eat it in an open place instead of my hostel room. I didn’t want to be subject to a blanket party like Pvt. Pyle in Full Metal Jacket. Still, I sat down on a bench on my way up to the Peak and opened up the container. I was immediately smacked in the face with a smell I could only liken to the worst body odor you could imagine combined with burnt hair and manure. Appetizing, right? So I started chowing down on the pieces, and first there was the texture. It was like eating a gooey Camembert cheese, but it was fruit somehow. Then there was the taste.

It was kind of hot outside as well. Not the best compliment to the smell.

I seriously enjoyed eating it because it reminded me of some really strong blue cheeses I ate before yet mixed with some slight notes of open sewer smell and roadkill just to keep it real with my adventurous palate. If you are not an adventurous eater, I’d recommend trying durian ice cream or custard before deciding to dine with the king. If you do take the plunge, bring a lot of gum with you if you don’t want to offend anyone for the next six to eight hours. The stank follows you no matter what.

Finally, there was the more normal part of my day when I had dinner with my friend Tom at Turkish Kebab House in Kowloon located at G/F, 104 Woosung Street, Jordan, Hong Kong. We thought about eating at Chungking Mansions, but it seemed like we’d get an intestinal worm from the open air Pakistani stalls or get rolled by the large Nigerian gentlemen selling second hand cellphones. Instead, we opted for the small Turkish eatery which became even cozier with our fellow patrons at the table next to us. We were pretty sure they were Russian gangsters since they had necks as wide as their heads, were constantly making calls on multiple cell phones, had tattoos, and gold chains. It was hilarious to watch them demand that the waitress immediately clean their table off even though they weren’t done eating. Bratva members aside, I ended up getting the kofte lamb meatballs for 55 HK which came with a side of rice or French fries.

The menu.

I ended up getting the rice since that’s the only proper way to eat Mediterranean/Middle Eastern food, and overall it was a fantastic dinner. The rice was the only downside though since it could have been at least seasoned or perhaps a pilaf, but it was just steamed white rice. The meatballs were juicy, spiced with some chili and rosemary along with some garlic which all nicely complimented the distinctive flavor that only lamb brings to a dish. The salad on the side was a good compliment to the savory lamb since it contained fresh greens and some roasted peppers on the side. Another great part of the restaurant were the sauces that came with the food. Two were tzatziki inpired creations while my favorite was the orange chili sauce that heated up the night while we watched our Eastern European comrades make deals and the typhoon rains blew past the open door. It was a great meal only equaled by the light show which brought us eventually to a German beer hall called Biergarten located at 5 Hanoi Street, Tsim Sha Tsui (Use MTR Exit N1 or N2.) to close out the night. Here’s their menu: http://biergarten-hongkong.com/contactus/. I got the Kostritzer black beer which was just right after the lamb since it was full bodied and filled to the rim with deep caramel tones.

Goethe’s favorite beer and just as dark as his philosophy

They also had some interesting tables which would be fun to dine in for a date night or something like that.

Hey everyone! Sorry for the long hiatus on the posts, but I have just returned after a whirlwind adventure through the Far East for the Korean Thanksgiving holiday. During my travels, I sampled many different foods that ranged from the more standard fare to the downright bizarre and frightening at times. Today I will be talking about the first day of foods that I sampled when I touched down in Hong Kong.

As soon as I got settled in my hostel, I asked the front desk where I could eat some good snake. They directed me to the Sogo department store because they thought I meant, “snack”. I clarified by making a sidewinding motion with my hands, and their eyes lit up with a mixture of excitement and slight bewilderment at the fact that a foreigner would want to search out such a food not normally served for western palates. Either way, they gave me the address of a place called Lee Kum Kee which is located in Central outside of the Causeway Bay metro station a little bit north of the intersection of Percival and Lockhart Road.

It’s the red and yellow sign.

Before I even entered, I saw it was one of the few shops on the block that didn’t have any English on the front of it and had various types of cooked game hanging from hooks in the front window. Time to go into the unknown.

As soon as I stepped in the room, the whole place somewhat stopped to see the foreigner who was foolish enough to wander into a locals only place. However, they were very cordial and gave me an English menu. If you don’t like being hustled about or are claustrophobic, don’t come to this place because I was put at a table with strangers since there was no room anywhere else in the dining room.

Interior of Lee Kum Kee. Really old school.

I showed them that I wanted the snake soup (60 HK), and they were even more incredulous that I was going for the gusto after intruding their little culinary sanctuary. When it came out, I was surprised at how it looked. I was expecting some skin or at least some scales, but it looked more like egg drop soup garnished with pita chips, lotus petals, and grass.

Ssssome ssssuper sssnake sssoup

However, I realized it must be snake soup when I saw them butchering some serpents in the back, and the actual meat didn’t look like beef or pork or chicken. Overall, it was pretty tasty. I would liken the taste of the meat to chicken even though it didn’t look like it, and I really enjoyed the texture variants with the crunchy, fried pieces of bread and reedy lemongrass that gave the soup a slight tang with every spoonful. While I was enjoying my soup, a new group of three customers sat down at my table during the lunch rush, and they were looking at what I was eating. The biggest guy of the group introduced himself and his friends as Chinese nationals from Guangdong province who work in Hong Kong for the day, and they were surprised to not only see me there but also how well I ate with chopsticks. They were really friendly though and offered me some of their steamed, tennis-ball yellow Hainan chicken which was extremely succulent. The bowl of soup wasn’t enough, so I also ordered a bowl of barbecued pork and beef over steamed rice with a free side of broccoli greens (40 HK). My word. The Hong Kong locals know how to live high on the hog because the pork stole the show with it’s crunchy, carmel brown, sweet skin which encased a savory interior that was the right level of salty that would be balanced out by the rice. I couldn’t help myself from scarfing at down because I haven’t had that sort of sweet barbecue since leaving the States for Korea.

Moving on from there, I had to get something to drink since the hot cup of Hong Kong tea really didn’t quench my thirst since it was at least 95 F outside and humid. So I went into a convenience store to get a bottle of fruit spike tea (8 HK). I don’t really know what they really were trying to say, but it was a very herbal tea that could fall into the range of Chinese herbal medicine. It’s not as enjoyable as a Lipton Brisk ice tea or anything like that, but it was cold and more traditional which did the job for me. Finally, there was the matter of dessert. I eventually saw a line of Chinese customers lined up around the block at this place that was advertised in Chinese, but then below it it said, “Super Bowl Snack”.

This place needs no cheerleaders.

I didn’t see any footballs around, but it must be popular enough to have a line long enough as one of John Madden’s signature/hilarious ramblings. When I came up to the counter, I got one “super bowl” (6 HK), and the guy used a bowl to stick two sticks into the substance while putting another bowl over it and flipping it to remove it from the original bowl. I would have thought it was going to be cold since he was taking the bowls out of a cooler, but it was piping hot.

Funkiest snack ever.

I thought it would be chocolate, but I ran into my old nemesis: red beans. This dessert ended up being some sort of gelatinous dough that contained tons of red beans. Needless to say, I took a couple hearty bites but couldn’t go any further. At least everything else I had was delicious. Then there was dinner.

I made a friend at the hostel, Tom, earlier in the day, so he became my travel buddy for my stay in Hong Kong. Before going out in Lan Kwai Fung, the party center of Hong Kong, we went out to Zhong Guo Song which is right off Lan Kwai Fung on Wo On Lane.

Just look for yellow and green.

They advertised healthier Chinese food with no MSG and less oil. Tom and I both went for the Yongzhou rice (40 HK), but I got the Thai spice ribs (65 HK) while he got the orange spice chicken. All of it was fantastic and tasted like they lived up to their promise of no MSG and less oil. The ribs were delectable since the sauce actually had a bit of a peppery bite to each bite, but the downside was that there were random bony pieces with no meat on them. Tom’s chicken had less bones, and the orange sauce was like eating orange chicken back home at Panda Express. As for the rice, it was a fried rice which contained plump shrimp, scallions, egg, peas, and carrots. We were properly stuffed by the end of the amazing meal which was a reflection of the fun time we had later that night watching the United match followed by bar hopping down Lan Kwai Fung.

So to recap day one, I’d recommend snake at Lee Kum Kee, great Cantonese food at Zhong Guo Song, and stay away from super bowl desserts unless you really like red beans. Coming up next, I finally grapple with the stinky durian fruit and try a Hong Kong fusion breakfast.